Former Supreme Court of NSW Judge, Dr Robert Austin (BA 1966, LLB 1969, LLM 1974) recently delivered a presentation on judging as part of the SULS 2010 Perspectives Forum.

Entitled, "How to Judge and be Judged", Dr Austin brought to life the day-to-day activities of Australia's busiest Superior Court, the Supreme Court of New South Wales, shedding some light on the human side of the work of the judges of the Equity Division.
Dr Austin initially pursued an academic career, full-time, for 20 years, co-authoring the standard textbook in company law from the 5th edition onwards, and rising to be Professor of Equity and Company Law, and (from 1985 to 1990) Head of the Department of Law at the University of Sydney.

Dr. Austin eventually turned his hand to corporate legal practice and became a partner at Minter Ellison, from 1990 to 1998.

His work there included such matters as the demutualisation of the AMP Society and the legal design of the CHESS settlement system for the Australian Securities Exchange.

It was from this position that he was unexpectedly asked to become a judge in the Equity Division of the Supreme Court of New South Wales.

He eventually became Corporations Judge, and remained in this position until earlier this year.
Download the podcast - "How to Judge and be Judged"